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Vorarlberg votes: Where it will be particularly exciting

(Bild: APA/ELISABETH GUT)

The Vorarlberg municipal and mayoral elections are over - and the first results from the 96 municipalities are already in. The ÖVP lost the mayoral seat in Schruns and in Lustenau the FPÖ made it to the run-off. And there was a sensation in the luxury ski resort of Lech. The krone.at live ticker takes you through the exciting election Sunday. 

Graphic: How the Vorarlberg municipalities voted

The most important facts in a nutshell:

1. Michael Ritsch, SPÖ mayor in the provincial capital of Bregenz, won a clear election victory. 

• The ÖVP has to vacate its mayoral seat in Schruns .
• In Lustenau, Patrick Wiedl (ÖVP) has to go into the run-off against Martin Fitz (FPÖ). There is also an ÖVP-FPÖ duel in Feldkirch. And in Dornbirn, the ÖVP and SPÖ will be battling it out for the mayor's seat in a fortnight's time.

• In the posh ski resort of Lech am Arlberg, the "Liste Lech" with Mayor Gerhard Lucian plummeted from 42 to 34 percent. The new "Together for Tomorrow" list took first place with 38 percent.

• Fewer and fewer people in Vorarlberg are willing to take on responsibility at municipal level. "Strengthen the municipalities!" demands "Krone Vorarlberg" editor-in-chief Emanuel Walser in his commentary. 

Majority voting right in 13 (small) municipalities
According to the Vorarlberg Municipal Elections Act, elections will be held on Sunday in three different ways: In 13 (small) municipalities - the same number as five years ago - the so-called majority voting system will be used. This means that no nomination has been submitted in these places and there are blank ballot papers in the polling booths. Voters can enter the names of their preferred candidates on these ballot papers. In 22 municipalities (2020: 18), one or more (party) lists are running, but no mayoral candidate due to a lack of registration. In both cases, where there is no direct election, the head of the municipality is elected by the new municipal council. However, the option of direct mayoral elections exists in almost two thirds of municipalities, namely in 61 (2020: 65). If no candidate achieves an absolute majority in the direct election, the voters will have to decide again in a run-off election on March 30.

Several run-off elections expected
In the cities, the tight race for a majority of seats is also reflected in the direct mayoral elections, with several run-off elections expected. In the provincial capital of Bregenz, Mayor Michael Ritsch (SPÖ) is battling it out with Roland Frühstück (ÖVP), while in Bludenz, as in 2020, there will be an election duel between incumbent Simon Tschann (ÖVP) and SPÖ provincial party leader Mario Leiter. A very exciting election Sunday is also expected in Feldkirch, where mayor Manfred Rädler (ÖVP) and challenger Andrea Kerbleder (FPÖ) are considered the most promising candidates. There could almost certainly be further run-off elections between ÖVP and FPÖ politicians in Lustenau (Patrick Wiedl, ÖVP - Martin Fitz, FPÖ) and possibly in Dornbirn (Julian Fässler, ÖVP - Christoph Waibel, FPÖ). In 2020, the number of run-off elections reached a record six, a mark that could be surpassed this time.

307,891 people are eligible to vote on Sunday (2020: 301,572), including 36,505 foreign EU citizens.